sony head unit - amp wiring for speakers

[goodstang]

hello all: i am trying to wire a sony cdx-mp30 head unit to a sony 4-channel amp. i'm going to use the amp to power four speakers.

my current set up includes the sony cdx-mp30 head unit, with a wiring harness that attaches a bunch of wires (mostly the 8 speaker wires, an antenna wire, and a power/ground cable.

my question is: what do i do with the wire harness from the head unit? to power the speakers by the amp, i have to send the speaker wires to the amp-- then use 2 rca plugs to connect the amp to the head unit--correct?

after disconnecting the speaker wires from the harness -- do i just leave the disconnected extensions from the head unit harness and tape them up? all that would then be left are three (red, black, yellow) wires connecting power to the head unit, and the rca plugs for the amp.

i plugged in the head unit with just those three wires, and the thing didn't even turn on. i'm completely lost. please help!

so pretty much, what do i do with the head unit wiring harness when powering speakers from an amp??

[Immo_G]

Might want to get it installed professionally.

[maxw]

So you want to run the four speakers off the amp as opposed to running them off the head unit?

If thats the case, do this:
Use RCA plug leada to go from the head unit to the amp. You should have 2x pair of RCA leads going from the head unit to the amp, L+R for the front and L+R for the rear.
To power up the head unit all you need is + (positive) - (negative) and acc (accesories, which is 12V when you have your keys turned past the first click). You also have to have a "remote" or "rem" wire going from your HU to your amp which tells the amp to power up when the HU is on.

As for all the other cables from your harness you need to tape up the 8 speaker wires as they wont be used. Make sure they are not in contact with each other! There are usually a range of other cables as well, like power antenae, light dimmer, mute etc but that depends on how many features your HU has. Read your manual

[tsmith1315]

i plugged in the head unit with just those three wires, and the thing didn't even turn on. i'm completely lost. please help!

Those are accessory (red), battery (yellow) and ground (black), right?

If so, try plugging it back in and connect the antenna, too. If it comes on then, you need a better ground.
Of course, you could check the ground lead with a voltmeter, too...

As Goodstang said, those and the blue remote lead should be all you need for the head unit to function. (I'd solve this problem before proceeding to the amp installation.)

Tim